Overview

Located in Northeast Ohio on the shores of Lake Erie, Cleveland, Ohio is a cultured and historic city offering both the superior amenities of a big city and the low cost of living and sense of community of a small town. Currently undergoing a revitalization push led by strong public-private partnerships of which CiF is proud to be a part, our City is an ideal location for EB-5 projects and investors. Cleveland, home of many well known people including Halle Berry, Paul Newman, and Bob Hope, offers many conveniences no other city can offer.

Recently named one of the most livable cities in the US, Cleveland offers its residents world-renowned healthcare and education, arts and culture, recreation, affordable housing, and infrastructure for easy travel. Additionally, our City offers a superior quality of life, safety and security, and pace of life that many cities are unable to replicate.

We at CiF are proud to call Cleveland home and invite you to learn more about our great city.

History

Founded in 1796, Cleveland quickly became an important industrial city and grew immensely during the mid-1800's. With the invention of the railroad speeding commerce between cities, the City prospered and gained economic significance in oil and steel production. Prominent figures including John D. Rockefeller (Standard Oil Company) and Samuel Mather (originally Cleveland Iron Mining Company) helped make the city's rapid rise to industry leader possible.

Once a primary source of manufacturing activity in the US, the City has since diversified its economy to include service-based businesses and is now home to a wide variety of prominent Fortune 500 companies and organizations including, but not limited to, KeyCorp, Ernst & Young and Sherwin-Williams. Cleveland has also grown to become Ohio's largest metropolitan area with a population of over two million people.

Living in Cleveland

Combining the best of both worlds, Cleveland offers the amenities of a big city with the accessibility of a smaller town:

Health Care

Cleveland is recognized worldwide for its quality health care and biomedical research and technology. People come from throughout the US and across the world to receive care from The Cleveland Clinic hospital. The Cleveland Clinic, ranked in the top-ten hospitals in the US, is internationally renowned for its expertise in heart care, alongside many other specialties. The Cleveland Clinic leaves its global footprint by maintaining one of the highest foreign patient flows in the US. The Clinic also offers international services including translators, travel accommodations and a variety of other services to help accommodate patients from across the globe.

Additionally, Cleveland houses University Hospitals, The MetroHealth System, Summa Health System, and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, which boasts a medical curriculum emulated by medical schools across the globe.

Education

Cleveland residents take pride in the excellent public and private learning facilities available throughout the area at the K-12 and secondary levels. Our City's private and preparatory schools educate students across the community and throughout the world, and public schools in the Cleveland area are well-respected.

Our City is also home to numerous vocational schools, community colleges, and state and private colleges and universities including Case Western Reserve University, Baldwin-Wallace College, John Carroll University, and Cleveland State University. As a product of the excellent educational facilities available throughout the area, Cleveland is able to boast a highly skilled and well-educated workforce.

Arts and Culture

The internationally-renowned Cleveland Orchestra is hosted by Cleveland's Severance Hall, and just a few blocks away, Cleveland's Playhouse Square-the second largest performing arts center in the country-provides live theater and entertainment to city residents and visitors alike. Our City also offers a wide variety of museums, including the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, the Great Lakes Science Center, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the Cleveland Opera.

Cleveland is also quickly becoming nationally-recognized for its cuisine. Home to celebrity chefs and authentic restaurants featuring foods from a variety of cultures and regions, the City is making a name for itself as an up-and-coming dining destination.

Sports and Leisure

Cleveland sports fans are proud to cheer on their professional home teams. The Cleveland Cavaliers, led by LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal, play at the Quicken Loans arena and other professional sports teams include the Cleveland Indians (baseball) and the Cleveland Browns (American football). The 2008 Major League Soccer (MLS) Cup winners, the Columbus Crew, are less than a two hour drive away as well.

Housing and Cost of Living

Clevelanders enjoy a choice of upscale housing styles and varying prime locations, from waterfront homes to urban apartments-all at very reasonable prices. In fact, although filled with big city benefits, the cost of living in Cleveland is significantly lower than other major cities. For example, living in Cleveland is 40% less expensive than Washington, DC; 66% less expensive than San Francisco; and 121% less expensive than New York City. Also, the cost of an average home in Cleveland is $246,396.00, compared to $695,910.00 in Los Angeles (source: www.bankrate.com). With this substantially lower cost of living, the city's amenities and high-end housing become more accessible to its residents, which allow for these benefits to be more easily integrated into the daily lives of Clevelanders.

Travel and Transportation

Cleveland's central location makes traveling convenient, whether to destinations locally, throughout the US or overseas. Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is the center of city travel and serves as a main center for Continental Airlines, providing Clevelanders with easy and accessible travel options to destinations worldwide. Similarly, the Burke Lakefront Airport and the Cuyahoga County Airport provide excellent services for business travelers. With thousands of flights to and from the city each day (including direct international flights) and popular US destinations such as New York and Chicago less than an hour's flight away, Cleveland is a perfect choice for a central US location.

Our City Cleveland also boasts a rapid transit system that travels from the city center to the Cleveland Hopkins airport within 25 minutes. Cleveland is known for supporting an extensive system of highways, freeways, railways, and cargo ports as well.

Doing Business in Cleveland

Located in the State of Ohio-the world's 25th largest economy-Cleveland is a diverse, affordable and thriving region for business. Nearly 40% of Fortune 500 companies have a presence in Northeast Ohio, whether through corporate headquarters, major divisions, subsidiaries, or sales offices. Some of these prominent Fortune 500 corporations include: KeyCorp, The Eaton Corporation, Forest City Enterprises, FirstEnergy, Progressive Insurance, Parker-Hannifin, Sherwin-Williams, Ernst & Young, and the Nestlé Corporation.

Concurrently, Cleveland also acts as a business center, with the Port of Cleveland generating over $350 million in income for the State's residents and supporting more than 10,000 jobs in the Northeast Ohio region. In addition, a total of seven major ports connect the region to global markets. This connection allows for over 150 international companies to have a presence in Northeast Ohio.

Entrepreneur magazine ranked Northeast Ohio as one of the most promising entrepreneurial regions - ranking higher than a number of large cities including San Francisco, California; Boston, Massachusetts; and Seattle, Washington - making it an even more desirable place to live and work.